the aeneid: roman epic - weebly...aeneid’ he died before he had finished it—left orders to have...
TRANSCRIPT
The Aeneid
Author: Virgil (Vergilivs Maro)
Culture: Roman
Time: 70-19 BC
Genre: epic poetry
Names to Know: Aeneas, Dido, Venus, Juno, Jupiter
Themes: wandering hero, piety, devotion to duty, stoicism
Journal Write
Compare the opening lines of the
Aeneid to the opening lines of the Iliad
and/or the Odyssey. Can you identify
any similarities or differences?
I. Historical Background
During Virgil’s lifetime, Rome’s system of Government was destroyed via a series of bloody civil wars.
The last military leader left standing became the new emperor: Augustus Caesar (Octavian), the
adopted son of Julius Caesar.
(Cupid, son of goddess Venus and father Julius Ceasar)
Augustus reigned for over 40 yrs.
During that time, he promoted education
and literature—and appointed several
state poets:
The Augustine Poets: (The three most
famous)
○ Virgil
○ Horace
○ Ovid (pronounced Ov-id)
Why write the Aeneid?
Augustus appointed Virgil to give Rome
one Great Epic piece of literature never
to be matched.
An epic that would portray Roman
character/achievements to the rest of
the world
The emperor Augustus told Vergil to write a national epic as part of his propaganda program, to celebrate the new golden age of peace that Augustus’ reign ushered in.
Background: Rome’s many civil wars and the death of the Republic.
Virgil spent the last 10 years of his life working on this epic he called ‘The Aeneid’
He died before he had finished it—left orders to have it destroyed.
Augustus found it and order it published.
A perfectionist,
Virgil worked at an
agonizingly slow
pace producing only
30-40 lines/day–
then destroying all
but 2-3 of the best
of them every night.
What is the Aeneid about?
The central
character, Aeneas,
a Trojan warrior
from Greek and
Roman myth whose
mother was Venus,
the goddess of love.
Roman legend had Augustus coming from the goddess Venus, via Aeneas.
So, Virgil connects Augustus and Aeneas.
Thus, Augustus was the divinely sanctioned ruler of Rome.
II. The Mythological Background
In connection to the
Trojan War, Aeneas
appears in the Iliad
fighting against the
Greeks.
Troy is destroyed
but Aeneas survives
and escapes.
Lands on Carthage (Rome did defeat Carthage)
Aeneas tells the Queen of Carthage (Dido) of his troubles
She falls in love with him…but he will leave her.
Two Mythic Traditions Greek: The Trojan War in
1250 BCE explains the
founding of Rome.
40 years later a
descendent of Aenaes
gives firth to Romulus
and Remus…
• Roman: Romulus
and Remus, suckled by the she-wolf, are the founders of Rome in 753 BCE.
Narrative Structure
Books 1-6: The Odyssean part
Aeneas as a wandering hero like Odysseus. His god-sent mission is to found a new city. Essentially, once the Greeks sack Troy, Aeneas and some Trojan ships escape to found a new Troy.
Books 7-12: The Iliadic part
Aeneas and the Trojans at war with the Italians & their allies.
The Roman Hero
Aeneas’ epithet: pious
Roman heroism: is on behalf of the community, not the individual. [self sacrifice]
Stoicism: Aeneas subsumes his personal desires for the good of the community [unlike Greek heroes who are very individualistic].
Book 1: Aeneas in Carthage
In lines 13-49, we learn why Aeneas
suffers - the wrath of Juno.
Two reasons:
Troy (Judgment of Paris,
a past event: Paris didn’t
pick Juno/Hera as the loveliest
goddess, he chose Venus)
Carthage (she knew Rome
would conquer this, her
favorite city, a future event)
The Wrath of Juno
Angry, Juno asks Aeolus [master of wind] to drive the Trojan ships off course, shipwreck them if possible.
The bribe: she offers Aeolus the lovely nymph Deiopeia
Result: one shipwreck before Neptune calms the sea.
Arrival in Libya
Aeneas puts into shore
with only 7 ships from his
fleet.
He gives a pep talk to his
men, recalling the
horrors they have
already survived (Scylla,
land of the Cyclopes,
etc.)
Venus’ Appeal & Jupiter’s Prophecy
While the Trojans recover
onshore, Aeneas’ mother
Venus approaches her father
Jupiter on behalf of her son
Jupiter had promised that
Aeneas would successfully
found a new city [Rome].
Jupiter’s promise: “For these I
set no limits, world or time, but
make the gift of empire
without end . . Lords of the
world, the toga-wearing
Romans”
Dido and the Carthaginians
Jupiter sends Mercury down to make Dido and her people receptive to the Trojans.
Meanwhile, Aeneas encounters his disguised mother, who tells him Dido’s history [Dido has sworn never to love or marry since the death of her husband].
Venus also makes Aeneas very attractive to Dido.
Aeneas comments on himself
Book 1.500-505
“I am Aeneas, duty-bound (translation of
the Latin ‘pius’), and known above high
air of heaven by my fame, carrying with
me in my ships our gods of hearth and
home, saved from the enemy. I look for
Italy to be my fatherland, and my
descent is from all-highest Jove. . . I
followed the given fates.”
The Temple of Juno
Hidden in a cloud, Aeneas goes into
Carthage. He sees the temple of Juno,
its walls painted with scenes from the
Trojan War.
We know from this that the
Carthaginians are civilized; the
Carthaginians are very sympathetic to
the events his city Troy suffered.
Dido Assaulted by Eros
While Venus & Cupid infect Dido with eros for Aeneas, Aeneas tells the Carthaginians about the Fall of Troy and his wanderings.
Book 2: The Fall of Troy from the Trojan Point of view.
Book 3: Aeneas’ wanderings, from Thrace, Crete, Sicily, to Carthage.
III. Literary Background